Weber State University   

Bachelor of Integrated Studies

Results of Assessment

2004-2005 (submitted 06/13/05)

The information in this assessment report is organized in these sections:

Program Numbers

According to the Student Information Database connected to STAARS, there are 111 continuing students in the BIS program. (“Continuing Students” consist of students enrolled in the current semester, plus students recently enrolled. )

Incoming students:
From May 19th 2004 to May 5th 2005, 51 students were admitted to the BIS program.

Graduating students:
In that same period, 30 students were cleared for graduation. Of those 30, 12 actually completed the degree and have graduated. Most of the others are completing their capstones, and should be finished over the summer.
Prospective students:
204 students attended a bi-weekly information session over the course of the year. We keep a record of who books in to a session, and who turns up, so this number is accurate. In effect, 1 in 4 students who investigate the BIS program by attending an information session actually follow through by applying to the program. There are many legitimate reasons why students don’t become BIS students. For example:

• They’ve just started Gen Eds, and I encourage them to wait a year till they have a better sense of what they want to choose as a major.
• They want three areas in the same department, e.g. HPHP, in which case I send them to the HPHP advisor.
• They’re hoping for a quick way to graduate, and are disappointed to discover the BIS program won’t provide a short cut to their goal.

We often advise students about General Education in these sessions, so I view these sessions as an advising service to the university rather than merely a recruiting opportunity for BIS.

Assessment Data

In order to assess the program, we used four survey forms distributed to the following sets of BIS constituents:

• Students as they are admitted to the program (incoming);
• Students completing their capstone oral defense (exiting);
• Faculty who mentored BIS students to the successful completion of the capstone;
• Alumni of the program.

The statistical analysis from the surveys is based on the following program outcomes:

“As a result of completing the course work and capstone thesis, a BIS student should have developed:

A. A solid base of knowledge in her/his three areas of emphasis;
B. An ability to synthesize her/his three areas of emphasis into an integrated capstone project;
C. Analytical, assessment, and problem-solving skills, which are demonstrated in course work and capstone;
D. Professional and life-skills;
E. A life plan beyond graduation, either in a particular career or graduate program.”

Incoming Students were surveyed when they brought in the contract packet in order to be admitted into the program. They were asked to rate themselves on a 1 to 5 scale with 1 as “very important,” and 5 as “insignificant.” They responded to the following question: “Which of the following skills and competencies do you expect to improve through this program?” They were then given the list of 5 program outcomes.

Outcome	A	B	C	D	E
49 responses	2.0	4.0	2.4	2.4	1.2

For incoming students, professional and life skills are the most important reason to enter the BIS program, and an ability to synthesize the three different areas is the least important.

Other Incoming Student Comments:

The following is a compilation of the most common comments:

I'm most excited about:

• Doing academic work in diverse areas of interest to me.
• Scheduling classes listed on the contract.
• Undertaking the capstone project.
• Making school my most important objective in my life, not work.
• Learning things that I will be using, and not just “going to school.”
• Having a direction that gives focus to my degree.
• Having a plan that will lead to graduation and a career.

I'm most nervous about:

• Undertaking the capstone project and completing it successfully.
• Not getting enough information and knowledge in each of the three areas.
• A heavy load of upper division credits in the last few semesters.
• How employers view the degree.

All the recipients were satisfied with the support they’ve received so far from the coordinator and secretary. The most common complaint from incoming students is that they wish they’d heard about the program earlier.

Exiting Students were surveyed at the oral defense. They were asked to rate themselves on a 1 to 5 scale with 1 as “very confident,” and 5 as “not confident.” They were prompted on the program outcomes in the following way: “As you complete your BIS degree, please rank yourself in each of the categories below in terms of your skills and competencies.”

Outcome	A	B	C	D	E
18 responses	4.57	4.86	4.71	4.86	4.43

Graduating BIS students rated themselves most competent in terms of their professional and life skills, as well as their ability to synthesize their three areas, and least confident in terms of a plan for the future. The synthesis makes sense as the students responding to the survey have just completed their capstone projects. It’s interesting that the most important goal coming into the program, professional and life-skills, is also what students perceive themselves to have achieved most successfully.

Other Exiting Student Comments:

The following is a compilation of the most common comments:

The best part of the BIS program:

• The 3800 class helped put things into perspective.
• The organized structure of the program.
• The ability to gain a liberal education while preparing for graduate school.
• Being able to design my own degree.
• Fulfilling the requirements for med/dental school while also getting a degree.
• Incorporating three areas that were useful to my line of work.
• Support from the coordinator and program secretary.

Greatest frustration:

• Not knowing about the BIS program earlier in my college career.
• Finding times when the capstone committee could meet.
• A lot more work than a traditional major.
• Coming up with a project that incorporated all three areas equally.
• Explaining to peers what a BIS degree is.

Exiting students were also asked about the support they received from their capstone committee. Most students felt they were well served by their faculty committees, which is also my perception. There are a few problems, including:

• Finding a time when all 3 committee members can meet with the student.
• One member of a committee who doesn’t read drafts in a timely way, or in a few cases, doesn’t attend a meeting. (The contract signed by committee and students is intended to prevent this situation, but it’s an imperfect system.)
• None or insufficient feedback on drafts to be helpful to the student.

The $100 honorarium has helped to improve the situation, as it’s only awarded if the faculty member attends both meetings, and the student completes the capstone. (More information about the honorariums is included later in this document.) Faculty are also asked to assess their own performance on the “Faculty Survey,” which they know I’ll read.

The following list shows variety of professional goals named by BIS graduates in their exiting surveys. This list demonstrates the broad range of interests we see in BIS students:

Design graphics (2) Dentistry (2) Don’t know Furniture store owner Graduate degree Gymnastics coach Librarian

Mother Medical doctor (2) Music teacher Physician’s assistant Recreation coordinator Social worker with at-risk families Video production and film directing (2)

Capstone Faculty were asked to rate the students they mentored through the capstone on a 1 to 5 scale with 1 as “very strong,” and 5 as “very weak.” They responded to the following question: “Please assess the BIS student you worked with, as compared to other senior students you teach, in terms of the following BIS program outcomes.” Faculty receive this survey at the student’s oral defense and usually send it back to me via campus mail.

Outcome	A	B	C	D	E
40 responses	1.92	1.63	1.68	1.32	1.45

Faculty rated students most competent in terms of their professional and life preparation, which is consistent with the incoming students’ highest priority, and the exiting student’s sense of what they were most successful in achieving. Faculty rated A, a solid base in the discipline, as the weakest area for BIS students. As faculty were asked to compare BIS students with majors in their disciplines, who have taken considerably more courses than an area of emphasis, it's not surprising that they would rate Outcome A lower than other areas. As this is a scale of 1 to 5, I'm impressed that faculty rate BIS students as highly as they do in all the areas.

Other Capstone Faculty Comments:

The following comments, taken directly from the “best part of the BIS capstone experience” section of the faculty survey, show the capstone working at it’s best. The following quotes represent the most complimentary comments:

•  “Seeing Lori apply the concepts she learned to a community setting. She used many of the skills she learned in our program.”
•  “Bing involved in a project which benefits not only the student but also persons outside the academic community and which relates to the student’s career plans.”
•  “It was a terrific project: creative, integrated, and very satisfying.”
•  “The BIS program is an excellent way for students to gain a good deal of academic experience in several disciplines at once.”
•  “I have probably learned as much from Cameron as he has learned from me–this is the epitome of a complete and challenging university experience, for both of us.”
•  One of my favorite parts of my BIS committee involvements has been the opportunity to interact a bit with colleagues from other disciplines.”
•  “Thanks to Judy for shepherding us through the process. I believe the system worked and Sam was required to rise to an acceptable standard.”
•  “Keep sending me students like Ashli, and I will be very happy.”

It’s clear from these comments that the capstone process is often a satisfying one for faculty, both in terms of the close academic contact with a particular student, and the enriching interaction with other faculty. The support from the BIS office enables most faculty to enjoy the process, and where there are problems, they know I will intervene as a troubleshooter and negotiator.

It would be wonderful if the capstone always elicited such an enthusiastic response from faculty, but inevitably there are also complaints and suggestions. Unlike the comments above, which represent only a sample of faculty praise, I have included every substantive criticism and suggestion made to me in the list below:

• Faculty members who don’t show up for the oral defense.
• The study could have had greater depth.
• “I would have liked to have met with you and the other two faculty members to obtain a clearer picture of my role as an advisor.”
• More contact with the student between the prospectus and the oral defense, including drafts and discussions.
• Student thinks the work is done, but the faculty know it isn’t. Sometimes, the student calls an oral defense too soon.
• Under-prepared students who are not familiar enough with the research skills of their disciplines.
• It would be helpful to have a style guide for the capstone paper.
• Give faculty on committee a written explanation of what a capstone project is, including that the capstone is stored in the library.
• Make clear what is expected and how the project should be evaluated.

Faculty honorarium:

A few years ago, we put an honorarium of $100 per faculty member per capstone ($300 for each capstone) to show our appreciation for the extra work involved with mentoring a BIS student through the capstone process. Faculty only receive the honorarium if they fulfil the requirements of the capstone contract (attending the prospectus meeting and oral defense, and giving timely feedback). The honorarium is awarded when the student completes the project and a grade is posted. This year, with the generous help of Academic Affairs, 73 honorariums were awarded. Forty-three went to individual faculty members, but 30 were returned to the university in the form of contributions to a scholarship or other charitable fund.

Alumni:

We sent out approximately 30 surveys to 2003 graduates, and so far, have received just 5 responses. Of those 5, one student thought the degree had only been somewhat helpful to her. She felt she had not had enough support in the program, and 18 hours wasn’t sufficient to give her the expertise she required. The other four considered the program and degree very useful. Here are some of their comments:

About the BIS goals:

• “I have used all of these skills multiple times in my graduate training–the BIS program served me well.”
• “I have used every area in my legal profession.”
• “I use all the skills I learned at Weber in my daily duties and tasks.”

Other comments:

• “I’m currently doing my research project for my graduate degree, and the capstone project allowed me to have prior experience and now success in my current project.”
• “The capstone project taught me a lot, and gave me a feel for projects I have encountered out of school. I feel my experience in the BIS program has given me an edge in helping accomplish some current project by seeing them through successfully.”
• “Prepares you well for the workforce. I am starting my master’s in HR management this summer. Very excited and thankful to the BIS program and the skills it gave me to succeed in life.

One recurring theme was that these graduates wished they had known about the program earlier so they could have taken less time to get their degrees.

Program Goals

Review of goals for 2004-2005:

The following lists my goals for last academic year, and my progress towards meeting them:

• Revise the assessment questionnaires and ensure more thorough data collection.

I did this, and we now have more consistent documents that make it easier to compare incoming with outgoing students, as well as factoring in faculty comments.

• Revise all BIS documents, making sure they’re clear, accurate and helpful.

That was my summer 2004 project, and I revised every document we have.

• Develop a grading rubric for capstone faculty.

I have used this rubric successfully with every capstone committee this year.

• Make connections with Alumni to track our graduates more accurately.

We have begun to survey our alumni, as can be seen above. We will expand our efforts in the coming year.

• Work more closely and earlier on with the student senator, Kristie Schilling so her job is done more effectively.

In the event, Kristie was disqualified, and Amelia Leonard became a specifically BIS senator. She did an outstanding job, e-mailing BIS students every week, designing and distributing a BIS poster, and advocating for BIS students in senate. She and I met once a week, and worked closely together. I anticipate the same sort of relationship with Anna Bird, the 2005-2006 BIS/Honors senator.

Other Changes in the BIS Program in 2004-2205:

• The BIS senator, Amelia Leonard, initiated a project to have posters made advertising the BIS program, which she then distributed across campus. This was a great way to raise awareness, and a few students even joined the program after seeing them.
• Working with graphic designers in Continuing Education, we designed and printed a new brochure. This took considerable time and effort to gather information, take photographs, write and edit text, send out for bids for printing, etc. We now have an attractive and professional brochure with Jason Close and I took personally to every department on campus. The brochures and the cost entailed in producing them was generously paid by Academic Affairs.
• We sent out the first alumni surveys, the results of which are described above.
• I worked with Marilyn Diamond in Honors to negotiate a departmental Honors component for BIS students. I then wrote the supporting materials.
• As a result of feedback from faculty last year, I developed a grading criteria sheet for capstone committee members which I’ve used successfully at every capstone defense this year.
• As in past years, I go through our files each summer, and write personal letters to any student I haven’t seen since 2003. Some of those students are now returning to renew their contracts.
   

Goals for 2005-2006:

As a result of writing this report, I will make the following changes:

• Revise the “Culminating Experience” handout so that it explains the expectations of the capstone more clearly to students.
• Write a parallel document for faculty so capstone expectations are clear to the faculty committee.
• Find ways to make the BIS program more visible to prospective students.
• Explore the possibility of a new and independent home for BIS, possibly in the library. I have already begun discussions with Joan Hubbard, as well as talking with the architects for the new Arts and Humanities building.

This report is submitted to Dr. Kathleen Lukken, Associate Provost and supervisor of the BIS program. The report will also be distributed to the members of the BIS Advisory Committee, and given to Angie Moore, the BIS administrative assistant. The data on which this report is based are available through the BIS office.

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